"Nobody is going to lie down. In our league, there's always going to be good players making good shots."

Fortunately for Dixon, his players were the ones making the big shots Tuesday night.

A jumper by Tray Woodall with 17 seconds left and two key free throws from freshman point guard James Robinson with 9 seconds to go made the difference, boosting Pittsburgh (16-4, 4-3 Big East) to a 68-64 victory over the Friars (10-9, 2-5).

Lamar Patterson led Pittsburgh with 17 points. He made 7 of 10 shots from the field and also led the Panthers with seven rebounds.

The Panthers never trailed, but never led by more than 12.

Woodall, J.J. Moore and Talib Zanna each scored nine points for the Panthers.

"Coach put the ball in our hands," said Woodall after the game.

Bryce Cotton led the Friars with 24 points, making 4 of 9 shots from 3-point range. Kadeem Batts added 17 and led the team with nine rebounds.

"We're trying to find a way to win," said Providence head coach Ed Cooley. "We played hard. We had some incredibly untimely mistakes. We've gotta try to persevere and get through it. We're making a lot of bad mistakes that are costing us games. A missed free throw here, an out of bounds there, they made their open shots and we didn't."

Pittsburgh took an early 7-2 lead, fueled by five points and two blocks from center Steven Adams. Adams left with two fouls only 3 minutes into the game, however, and didn't return until the second half. Providence's LaDontae Henton also picked up two early fouls.

Patterson stepped up in Adams' place down low, scoring 11 first-half points as Pittsburgh took a 34-27 lead.

Cotton, after not scoring until 7 minutes remained in the half, scored the Friars' last 13 points, including three treys.

The Panthers got off to another fast start in the second half, using quick buckets from Woodall, Zanna, Patterson, and Trey Zeigler to take a 42-32 lead, their largest of the half.

Batts responded for Providence, scoring the Friars' next eight points to cut the lead to 44-40 with 11:36 remaining.

The Panthers appeared to be in control with 2:24 remaining after Moore's 3-pointer gave them a 63-53 lead. But the Friars went on an 11-3 run, closing the gap to 66-64 on a 3-pointer by Cotton with 11 seconds to play.

"We guarded Cotton as well as we could have when he hit that three," Dixon said. "Providence is very good now that they are at full strength. Give them credit. (Vincent) Council is as good of a driver and penetrator as there is in the country, and Cotton is one of the best shooters in the country."

Pittsburgh put the game out of reach on the ensuing possession when Robinson made two free throws.

"We got great performances," said Dixon. "James Robinson, our freshman, hit the free throws, Durand (Johnson) hit the big 3-pointer out of the timeout, and Steve did some good things in limited minutes and fouls on him early."

Cooley was not happy with the officiating. "Were there even any fouls called today? It was a football game out there," Cooley said. "It was the Patriots and the Ravens in basketball uniforms."

Providence got to the line for just 10 free throws and made 6. Pittsburgh was 12 of 21 from the stripe.